Welcome

Introduction

The Capitol, with its unfinished dome and incomplete wings, presents but an imperfect picture of what its appearance is ultimately destined to be.

- A Jewish Soldier, “A Tour of Washington City,” The Jewish Messenger

When the Civil War broke out on April 12, 1861, the United States split between North and South. President Abraham Lincoln led the Union from the nation’s capital, just across the river from Confederate Alexandria, Virginia.

Nearly 25,000 of the nation’s 150,000 Jews lived in Confederate states. Over 8,000 Jews joined the fight on both sides.

In Washington and in Union-occupied Alexandria, members of the Jewish community—many of them recent immigrants—responded to the bloody conflict in diverse ways.

At Abraham Lincoln’s first inauguration on March 4, 1861, the Capitol dome was still unfinished. Five weeks later, the Civil War broke out.

"From the city of Washington, Alexandria is reached by wretched ferry boats from the foot of Seventh Street, where military officers are stationed to examine the passports."

- A Jewish Soldier, “Alexandria, Virginia, and its Jewish population”, The Jewish Messenger

Between August 1861 and March 1862, an anonymous individual identified as “A Jewish Soldier” wrote “Sketches from the Seat of War,” a series of articles for The Jewish Messenger, a weekly newspaper based in New York City.